it starts with the flick of a switch... to the vaporizer. as it heats up, i meditate to remove any thoughts from my mind. as i take my first puff of the delicious ganja, i turn on the stereo. while i listen to each track i take notes as to anything that seems relevant at the time, thoughts it evokes, favorites, the works. when the album ends i spend ten minutes in silence reflecting on the moment....







alright thats in an ideal world. i usually just put that **** on and try and finish the whole album without getting interrupted.

I like to give an album a few listens before I judge it, if it's a little hard to get into then I'll throw it on in the background while I'm browsing the internet and let it soak into my subconscious. After a while certain songs or even just hooks will stand out and I listen to them specifically and let my appreciation spread from there.

But if after 3 or 4 listens nothing has appealed to me then I'll delete it. generally even if an album is a grower I'll recognise the quality, even if I don't exactly feel compelled to listen. I can always re-download stuff if I want to give it another shot.

I go to music sites (like this one) and check out what bands other people like or recommend and then I use Bearshare or YouTube to listen to some of the songs. I've found a lot of threads here with some good recommendations and I am always happy to give any bands a chance.

I personally think that 2 listens should give me an idea on whether I like an album. Not immediately but even if it's a more difficult listen hopefully a certain passage or hook will make me go back to it.

Often its months before i start appreciating an album. I tend to use reviews as an indicator as to whether i'll like it or not but by no means do they make up my mind for me.

I always give albums four chances to start with. If after four listens, my opinion of it hasn't changed, I move on. If I notice myself liking it more with each listen, then I'll give it however many listens I need to to fully get it.

That's my criteria.

Sometimes a new album makes an instant impact on me, but that's only very rarely. Most of the time I download it, listen to it once or twice end-to-end, think 'oh, that's a good album', spend a few days listening to my favourites and leaving the new album alone, then get back to it and appreciate it even more.

Another way is to put on a new album while playing online pool, tetris or whatever. Helps to get into new music if you do that for some reason or other.

It takes a while for me to fully integrate an album into my regular listening habits. Occasionally I'll really like an album on first listen (as was the case for Histoire de Melody Nelson) but usually I have to come back to it a few times before it really seeps in.

I'll download it , listen to it once with a feeling of total apathy , ignore it for about 6 months and then when everybody starts raving about it I say I think it's shit

I think that the real issue lies in the fact that there is more music being produced all the time now with the affordable recording technology that it seems to put bands at a disadvantage because they have to satisfy their audience with the limited space they have. I love the fact that more and more music is being produced. But all music isn't quality music. The airwaves are being saturated with terrible top 40s artists (for the most part), and the internet is spreading just as much bad music as it is good. Listeners just don't have the time always to really dig deep into full albums anymore since there are so many options out there. I'm trying to give everything a shot, but there are times when I just can't find interest early enough to appreciate the music.